Gandhara School of Art

Can you tell me in detail about the Gandhara School of Art?

[Arun Vats]

Gandhara School was based on Greco-Roman norms object oriented foreign techniques and an alien spirit.

It is also known as Graeco-Buddhist School of art. The foreign influence is marked from the sculptures of Buddha in which they bear resemblance to the Greek sculptures.

Grey sandstone (Blue-grey Mica schist to be precise) is used in Gandhara School of Art.

The Bamyan Buddha of Afghanistan was the example of the Gandhara School. The other materials used were Mud, Lime, Stucco. However, Marble was not used in Gandhara art. Terracotta was used rarely. Bimaran Casket has marked the earliest specimen of the Gandhara Art.

The Gandharan Buddha images were inspired by Hellenistic realism, tempered by Persian, Scythian, and Parthian models.

Sculptors constructed Buddhist images with anatomical accuracy, spatial depth, and foreshortening.

In this art the Buddha's curls were altered into wavy hair.


The Various Mudras of Buddha in Gandhar
Art in all the Buddha depicted in the Gandhara Art is shown making four types of hand gestures and it is a remarkable feature in this art.

The gestures are as follows: Abahayamudra : Don't fear Dhyanamudra : meditation Dharmachakramudra: a preaching mudra Bhumisparshamudra: Touching the earth.

Major Centres
Jalalabad, Hadda, Bamaran, Begram & Taxila were the main centers where art pieces of Gandhara School have been discovered.

Shakas and Kushanas both were patrons of Gandhara School. The head of the Buddha matched very much with Greek God Apollo.